In 2018, Birmingham's Shipt made deals with the state, Jefferson County and city of Birmingham to receive incentives in exchange for keeping its headquarters in the Magic City and growing its workforce.
But, the agreement with the state has ended, no funds have been paid and the cash is back up for grabs.
The state of Alabama and Shipt signed a project agreement related to the company’s expansion in Birmingham in 2018 that qualified the company for incentives under the Alabama Jobs Act.
Pending finalization of the deal in 2018, the state of Alabama was prepared to provide a jobs credit valued at nearly $14.5 million over 10 years, an investment credit valued at $1.5 million over 10 years and AIDT services and support valued at $604,960. Those incentives were tied to achievements of project milestones, including hiring 881 employees.
However, Shipt never received any Jobs Act incentives from the state, according to Stefania Jones, manager of governmental relations and marketing with the Alabama Department of Commerce. The agreement was terminated by mutual consent in March 2023. The termination was requested by Shipt, as it no longer expected to have the jobs it committed to in the agreement, Jones said.
"Under the Alabama Jobs Act, companies that have qualified for incentives have to achieve specified milestones — e.g., job creation — before they receive the incentives," she said. "Since Shipt never achieved its milestones, the incentives were not extended and are now considered unencumbered against the Jobs Act cap, meaning they are now available for other qualified projects."
In a statement, Shipt called the state and local governments' economic development support a key factor in Shipt's growth.
"Our talented Alabama-based workforce is nearly three times the size it was in 2018, thanks in part to these investments, and we have no further plans to collect public funds," the statement read. "It is our hope that the funds will be reallocated to similarly support the success of other local companies because we believe that Birmingham will continue to grow as a Southeast tech hub. We look forward to a long, successful future in our home city and state.”
The city of Birmingham has paid the company $1.5 million to date.
The company's agreement with the county lapsed in 2020. The county originally entered an agreement stating it would pay up to $720,000 to Shipt for individual jobs paying more than $60,000 at $2,000 per job created in years 2018-2020. Shipt requested payments totaling $254,000 for jobs created during those years, a county spokesperson said.
Payments made were $148,000 for 74 jobs created in 2018-2019 and $106,000 for 53 jobs created in 2020. This doesn’t mean Shipt only hired 127 people during this time, but that it submitted for payment on 127 jobs paying more than $60,000.
